Established in 1964 as Harrisburg Area Community College, HACC has more than 22,000 students studying for degrees at its five campuses and over 50,000 students seeking non-degree education. It is the largest and oldest of Pennsylvania’s community colleges.
Corbin Design designed and developed custom vehicular and pedestrian wayfinding and identification signage for the college’s 212-acre main campus in Harrisburg. The exterior sign type design array reflects HACC’s dual identity as a community college and arboretum. Unique design elements include a sculptural climbing vine on the gateway and building identifiers.
The gateway identifier establishes the look and feel of the rest of the sign types with decorative finials and a mesh framework on the sign span. The gateway framework displays the college seal and also includes vehicular messaging. The sign’s masonry bases recall the brick bases of existing entrance identifiers.
One requirement was to retrofit existing sign bases, given their favorable location and initial expense. We developed a separate retrofit design to update existing signs and to integrate their appearance with the new sign types, creating a consistent brand image in the built environment.
